Richaun Holmes was removed from the Sixers‘ rotation last month after Nerlens Noel returned to the court, but Holmes has been back in the lineup this week and has looked good — he scored 18 points on Tuesday, then grabbed eight boards to go along with nine points on Wednesday. As John Smallwood of The Philadelphia Daily News writes, Holmes is making a case that he might be an ideal backup for Joel Embiid.
While he isn’t necessarily as talented as Noel or Jahlil Okafor, Holmes also wasn’t a top draft pick, and didn’t come with the same expectations as the Sixers’ other bigs, making him a better fit as a backup. In the view of Jake Fischer of Liberty Ballers (Twitter links), Holmes’ trade value is also very much on the rise, given his extremely favorable contract. As Fischer notes, that doesn’t necessarily mean Holmes will be moved, but teams will likely inquire on the big man, who is under contract through 2018/19 on a minimum salary deal.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- In the wake of a report suggesting the Knicks have reached out to the Celtics to gauge their interest in Carmelo Anthony, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe argues that the Knicks forward isn’t the right fit for the C’s. Acquiring Anthony wouldn’t help shore up Boston’s defense, and would significantly limit the team’s flexibility to pursue free agents going forward, Himmelsbach writes.
- The Celtics are taking a unique approach with the development of 2016 second-round pick Abdel Nader, writes Chris Reichert of The Step Back. Nader appears to be the top candidate for the NBA D-League’s Rookie of the Year honors, and may get an opportunity to crack Boston’s NBA roster in 2017/18.
- Brett Koremenos of RealGM.com takes a closer look at the Knicks in an attempt to determine why the team’s current roster has disappointed, and what steps the club should take going forward.
First….WTF did that kid just post his address for some reason?
And second….the knicks have 5 undrafted rookies (except willy) and pretty broke down core, i dont think anyone thought theyd be any good
You are one of the few smart ones… Respect!!!
I’d be comfortable trading Noel with Holmes filling that back-up big role instead of spending ~80M on Noel. Unfortunately they’re playing themselves out of Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, Dennis Smith, and De’Aaron Fox.
It would be ironic if they got just good enough to content but not to take that last step towards really contention by netting a pg
Yeah I hear you but we still have the lakers pick and have the rights to swap with Sacramento
Unfortunately its looking like that lakers pick is gonna be a lakers pick right now
So are the Sixers just gonna keep collecting big men or do they have like a plan or what?
Draft a G, trade okafor for a can of tuna and throw a gazillion bucks at jrue in free agency